Bering Air C208 crash

[fdcg27]

Surprised that nobody has posted this so far, but a Cessna Caravan operating a scheduled flight from Unalakleet to Nome crashed on sea ice while holding awaiting runway being cleared of snow at Nome.
The plane was operating single pilot as is allowed and all nine passenger seats were filled.
The wreckage has been found and all aboard perished.
The aircraft appears to have impacted the ice at a high vertical and low forward velocity.
Cause is not yet known but either airframe icing or pilot spacial disorientation both seem possible. I have read in the past that the C208 does not handle ice well, but then most aircraft don't and ice is something to escape and any pilot operating in the Arctic would know this.
A very sad event, especially for a state where there is often no option other than to fly to where one needs to go.

 

[Danno]

Cause is not yet known but either airframe icing or pilot spacial disorientation both seem possible. I have read in the past that the C208 does not handle ice well, but then most aircraft don't and ice is something to escape and any pilot operating in the Arctic would know this.
A very sad event, especially for a state where there is often no option other than to fly to where one needs to go.

Blancolirio posted on this crash. This Caravan should of had a very sophisticated de-icing system. De-icing fluid is pumped onto leading edge of wing while in flight and de-ices the whole wing for the whole flight. These planes fly in icing conditions though out their whole flight as they have low flight ceilings and fly in the clouds quite often.
It will be interesting to see what is uncovered on this flight. Looks to be a flat spin/stall crash imo.

 

[fdcg27]

Whether we're talking about a weeping leading edge system or boots, neither can prevent the accumulation of ice in icing conditions. They can only reduce the rapidity of accumulation.
Both are intended to allow the aircraft to survive an icing encounter while the pilot finds his way out of icing conditions.

 

[Cujet]

Whether we're talking about a weeping leading edge system or boots, neither can prevent the accumulation of ice in icing conditions. They can only reduce the rapidity of accumulation.
Both are intended to allow the aircraft to survive an icing encounter while the pilot finds his way out of icing conditions.

Even real 'all weather' aircraft, such as modern airliners or large corporate jets, must use extreme caution in severe weather. To the best of my knowledge, there are exactly zero light aircraft capable of safe flight into icing conditions.

 

[frankbee3]

I used to fly the Caravan myself. Part 135 cargo outfit. I was fortunate to never have more than about 3/8th of an inch of ice accumulation. In training, we were taught that the airplane would not carry very much ice. The training outfit never defined “much” ice, and I thought that child psychology might have been applied in that case.

The Caravan that I flew was older and used inflatable de-ice boots for de*icing. I was perhaps lucky to not find out how much ice the Caravan could carry.. There isn’t a lot of reserve power, so we had a couple of pilots struggle to maintain altitude one a couple of flights where an emergency was declared so that they could get radar vectors through lower terrain and onto an alternate airport.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

Transport Canada further recommends that Cessna Caravan C208 operators:

1. Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the C208 in conjunction with the C208 AFM, Supplements, and all ADs issued to date, and to ensure that flight crews understand the complexity of operating the C208 in icing conditions in accordance with the AFM, Supplements and ADs. The following link will aid in the development of Single Crew SOP:
   https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/co...-crew-aeroplane-standard-operating-procedures
2. Exercise caution when dispatching into, or operating in forecast or known icing conditions along an intended route. Use all available resources (weather forecast, Air Traffic Services, PIREPS, etc.) to ascertain the presence of icing conditions. Reports of icing conditions should be considered to be prohibitive where those conditions meet or exceed the definition of moderate or greater icing conditions for the Cessna Caravan C208 airplanes as defined in applicable ADs, AFMs and AMOCs.
3. Consider delaying departure when icing conditions will be encountered immediately after take-off and for a prolonged period in cruise.
4. Develop and review exit strategies to be used in case of an icing encounter and consider taking evasive action immediately upon encountering icing conditions, in anticipation that icing conditions can change rapidly and possibly overwhelm the aircraft protection systems.
5. Do not retract the flaps until the airframe is clear of ice if the airplane has been operated in icing with the flaps extended.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

Even real 'all weather' aircraft, such as modern airliners or large corporate jets, must use extreme caution in severe weather. To the best of my knowledge, there are exactly zero light aircraft capable of safe flight into icing conditions.

We are not allowed to intentionally operate in severe ( Airline policy ) ice and Airbus defines severe ice as more than 5 millimetres.

I know a A320 pilot who flew through far more than that and he said you couldn’t even tell performance wise. I saw pictures of the planes nose ice detector….looked like an Arctic Rhino. They picked up at least 2 INCHES of ice, at least.

The rest of the aircraft ( he went outside after they landed to take a look ) , surprisingly, did not have lots of ice on the unprotected areas as you would expect ( unheated tail, slats 1, 2 unheated and the flaps ).

That said , avoid severe ice, even in a jet.

We have to increase the landing speed by only 5 knots if severe ice ( if landing flap 3 only versus landing with flap full ).

 

[Astro14]

If it was ice - and we don’t yet know - then why did the pilot operate in those conditions?

Poor forecast?
Poor training?
Poor judgement?

There are a lot of possibilities- but without being able to ask this pilot, we may never reach certainty on the cause.